Orange You Guavalicious? and more deliveries!

What a busy week! Whew! More cupcake deliveries on Wednesday...

New flavors include:

• Orange you Guavaluscious? -- Orange and guava cake, light guava buttercream frosting
• Peanut Butternana -- old fashioned peanut butter and banana cake, peanut butter buttercream frosting, mini chocolate peanut butter cup topper!

Peanut Butter-nana (left) and Orange You Guavaluscious? (right)

A quick thought on the flavor of jasmine and guava, and how your senses perceive it...

I love guava. It's like my love for jasmine, the same type of sweet fragrance that hits your nose; not so much your tongue. I love the scent of sweetness, and when you've get a moist texture and sweet flavor on your tongue to pair with, it becomes a divine simplicity.

As you know (and as Alton Brown from "Good Eats" says), your taste buds can only really taste 5 flavors -- sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory. So how do you "taste" more complex flavors? It's actually the fragrance of these foods that comes through your nose... without your sense of smell, you wouldn't really "taste" the food and seasonings. Think of when you've got a stuffy nose and food tastes bland and yuck!

Sweet Jasmine Meets Mango

So, I've realized this early on when my bf was tasting my first batch of jasmine mango cupcakes, and now it's confirmed after some feedback from taster friends. When it comes to cupcakes, and depending on the situation or person, not everyone can "taste" the jasmine or guava. If you're putting the whole thing in your mouth, following it immediately with a drink or another cupcake, or if you're engaged in a conversation or other activity where focus isn't placed on the act of eating, then there's a good chance you will miss the jasmine flavor. (I repeat) Miss the jasmine flavor, completely. Since it's more aromatic than it is a flavor that can be tasted, if you have a slightly stuffy nose, you might be in the same boat.

Haha, so aromatic cupcakes has actually become a quite interesting experiment and study on taste and senses. All the more reason why I think the name "Sweet Jasmine Meets Mango" plays on the aroma and tastes of the cupcake itself.

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Peanut Butternana

Peanut Butternana...

Yumm... a tantalizing cupcake. Organic old-fashioned peanut butter and baby bananas (not artificial banana flavor... which would be yuck!), and peanut butter buttercream frosting. Salty and sweet combinations are simply fabulous.

I used baby bananas as they're in season/available now, which makes the cake taste even better, since the baby banana is sweeter than the regular bananas you buy at the grocery store.

The baby banana is native to Columbia, and grows in bunches that contain ten to twelve "fingers," or bananas. The baby banana is loaded with nutrients. It's an excellent source of heart-healthy vitamin B6, and provides a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and potassium

I've always been fascinated by the use of peanuts and peanut butter... Peanuts are so versatile. The fact that they can be used as salty, savory, or sweet, makes it such a perfect little nut, and the protein and nutrition is good for you too! Well... as long as you're not overloading it with salt or sugar.

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